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Huge Doline Discovered in North China
A huge doline, 70 meters deep and 100 meters wide, has been discovered on Mount Shangfang, in the Fangshan District of Beijing.
Dolines are special geological landscape formations found in karst regions, formed by repeated cave-ins of the tops of underground caves. They are common in China, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
This is the first time that a doline has been found in north China, said Song Linhua, a research fellow with the Geoscience and Resources Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who discovered the doline.
Song explained that Mount Shangfang is made of limestone formed more than 600 million years ago. Water erosion and dissolution have turned the mountain's surface into a karst landscape, from which dolines easily take shape.
Meanwhile, it is learned that a group of dolines, discovered in Leye in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is the largest in the world.
Song said that the dolines found in Guangxi are all located in a low-lying area, several hundred meters deep and with underground rivers.
Song noted that if there are underground rivers under the doline in Fangshan District, it will be of great significance.
Song stressed that the discovery is of important scientific significance. Mount Shangfang boasts various landscapes and rich reserves of bio-diversity, and the forest coverage rate is more than 95 percent.
Since the doline has not been damaged by human activity, it is possible that unique animals and plants live there, Song said.
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